Operation Web Snare

Operation Web Snare

Article excerpt

More than 150 people were arrested or convicted during Operation Web Snare, a coordinated government effort to crack down on cybercrime. Using the combined resources of the U.S. Attorney's offices, the Criminal Division of the Department of Justice, the FBI, Postal Inspection Service divisions, the Federal Trade Commission, and other federal, state, local and foreign law enforcement agencies, the summer-long initiative targeted a variety of cybercrimes including identity theft, fraud, software piracy, computer intrusions and other intellectual property crimes.

According to the Justice Department, 150,000 victims (accounting for an estimated $215 million in losses) were identified, leading to over 160 investigations as part of Web Snare. Law enforcement personnel also executed over 140 search and seizure warrants during the operation and prosecutors obtained 117 criminal complaints and indictments along with the arrests and convictions.

Operation Web Snare is not the first government effort of this magnitude. In 2003, Operations E-Con and Cyber Sweep combined for more than 160 search and seizure warrants and 250 arrests or convictions for various cybercrimes. …